1980 Mundialito


The 1980 Mundialito, or Copa de Oro de Campeones Mundiales, was a special international football tournament held in Montevideo, Uruguay, from 30 December 1980 to 10 January 1981, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the first World Cup tournament, which had been celebrated in 1930 at the same venue. It was organised by FIFA.
The national teams invited were Uruguay, Italy, West Germany, Brazil, Netherlands, and Argentina, at the time the six former World Cup-winning nations except for the Netherlands – 1974 and 1978 World Cup runners-up – replacing England, who declined the invitation due to an already crowded fixture list. The Mundialito was held in the middle of the European football season and the English league were reluctant to release their players for a long journey to another continent.

Participating teams

TeamNotes
Hosts, 1930 and 1950 FIFA World Cup Champions
1934 and 1938 FIFA World Cup Champions
1954 and 1974 FIFA World Cup Champions
1958, 1962 and 1970 FIFA World Cup Champions
1978 FIFA World Cup Champions
1974 and 1978 FIFA World Cup Runners-up, replacing

England, the 1966 FIFA World Cup winners, declined to participate.

Format

The six teams were distributed in two groups of three: Group "A" was composed of Netherlands, Italy, and Uruguay; Group B, of Argentina, Brazil, and West Germany. The winners of each group faced each other to decide the tournament winner.

Squads

Each team had a squad of 18 players.

Outcome

Uruguay and Brazil won their respective groups and played the final, with Uruguay defeating Brazil 2–1 with a late goal, the same result that had occurred 30 years earlier between the two teams in the deciding match of the 1950 World Cup. Uruguay's coach during the Mundialito, Roque Máspoli, had also been Uruguay's goalkeeper in the 1950 match.
Dutch manager Jan Zwartkruis resigned from his position as soon as he returned to the Netherlands, while Leopoldo Luque and Rainer Bonhof never represented their country again.

Group stage

Group A

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Group B

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Final

Scorers

;3 goals
;1 goal
;Own goals